Addressing Common Misconceptions About CRT and Why it Needs to be Taught in Schools

Introduction

Critical Race Theory (CRT) has undoubtedly become one of the most controversial topics the United States has contended with in the past few years. This school of thought, established in the late 1980s, attempts to explain how structures and institutions across the U.S. perpetuate the continuation of racism. Unfortunately, many conservative media outlets across the country have conflated its meaning, and weaponized the term to take on negative connotations. As such, there are many movements all over the country that are attempting to ban discussions regarding CRT and racism from being taught at public schools. As one might imagine, this dynamic is extremely problematic for many reasons.

How can we make progress and reform racist institutions if we can't even discuss the problem? In this article, I will explain what CRT is, how its meaning and purpose has been misrepresented across multiple platforms, and ultimately, how this school of thought can come to our benefit in the education system to create change.

What is CRT?

In order to explain how CRT often gets misrepresented in the media, I would first like to discuss how this school of thought came to be established. The origins of the CRT movement can be traced back to Critical Legal Studies (CSL), a branch of scholars who began studying in the 1970s - 1980s. CSL theorists studied the different ways in which legal intuitions benefited the wealthy and disenfranchised the poor. In society, neoliberalism indoctrinates everyone into believing that there is equal treatment under the law, even though this practice rarely occurs in real life. As such, these scholars believed that this style of politics prevented racist structures and incidents from being exposed. As time passed, the theorists began to focus more on these structures, and how they perpetuated racism in current day society. This shift in thinking led to the creation of the CRT movement at the first Workshop on Critical Race Theory in 1989.

Despite the great variety of thoughts and opinions within this field, scholars agree on five common concepts. In other words, race is a carefully constructed set of perceived characteristics and values used to oppress and exploit people of color. Second, racism in the U.S. takes on an aberrational form; every minority experiences racism and discrimination in most areas of public and private life. Third, scholars agree on the thesis of interest convergence, which stipulates that “Black people achieve civil rights victories only when white and black interests converge.” Simply put, cooperation regarding social justice issues occurs when it’s convenient and beneficial for white people. Fourth, minorities are subjected to differential racialization. This statement refers to a process in which people of color are exposed to sets of negative stereotypes in all areas of pop culture that inform their racial identity in this country. Fifth, the concept of intersectionality necessitates that all aspects of a person's identity be taken into account when studying different phenomena. As I mentioned earlier, these five statements form the base of critical race theory. However, many scholars offer lots of important insight and tools to study these issues that are also worth looking into.

CRT in the Media

It is important to understand what critical race theory is, in order to see how it’s misinterpreted in the media.

During one of his segments, Tucker Carlson, an anchor on Fox News, even admits that he’d “‘never figured out what critical race theory is’—even ‘after a year of talking about it.’” As I mentioned earlier, CRT's purpose is to educate people about the different ways in which racism exists in daily life. By not understanding this theory, people like Tucker Carlson fail to educate themselves about how the U.S. actually operates. In doing so, they deliberately chose to ignore and disregard people of color and their suffering. Furthermore, it also allows the theory to be miscommunicated, as Quisha King, co-founder of the Moms of Liberty demonstrates. After she was invited as a guest on a Fox News segment, she explains that ‘“Critical race theory would be aligned with the KKK and true white supremacy.’” Her word choice in this quote is incredibly racist, for she completely disregards the struggles minorities face on a daily basis. Her blatant attack demonstrates her one dimensional view of race, and how CRT’s purpose gets mistaken. Additionally, not only does she make a very damaging comparison by likening CRT to organizations like the KKK, but she structures her argument in a way that changes the problem, and focuses the issue away from the idea of race. As such, people like Quisha King halt crucial conversations about discrimination. It is important to understand how these news stations misrepresent CRT's ideas, because their dialogue has caused many changes to occur across the country. For one, many states have taken the initiative to pass laws that instruct how public schools are allowed to teach CRT and address racism.

Not only does CRT get misinterpreted in conservative media, but in liberal platforms, as well. Democrats often underestimate the power of these right-wing talking points. By dismissing the conversation, they fail to implement preemptive measures to combat these discourses. This pattern can be seen in the 2021 governor election in Virginia. Glenn Youngkin, the Republican Candidate, incorporated CRT into his political campaign in order to galvanize more voters. Despite the fact that a substantial percentage of the population had concerns regarding this school of thought, Terry McAuliffe continuously dismissed his opponent's claims, and tried to minimize all issues pertaining to CRT. This more broadly reflects the trend of Democrats not taking such discussions seriously. In order to attract more voters and dispel misinformation, they need to address these concerns through clear dialogue and policy reform. Otherwise, CRT will continue to be a divisive topic conservative politicians can utilize to further their own agendas when it comes to race and equality.

Why We Need CRT

The different ways in which CRT gets conflated across various media platforms prevents people from working towards creating a more equitable and socially just society. When states pass laws that ban racism and stories that center Black history from being taught in public schools, the “lack of preparedness results in the maintenance of racial inequali ty , for if whites cannot engage in an exploration of both their own and people of color's racial perspectives, we hold the racial order in place and continue to impose our racial perspectives and experiences as universal.” By allowing states to center educational discussions regarding race, these politicians, mainly conservatives, ensure that social justice issues will never be addressed. This dynamic poses a great problem for society: How can we restructure racist intuitions and provide equity if we don't even understand what the problem is in the first place? Additionally, by discounting racism and its existence, these lawmakers create even more harmful and volatile environments for students of color. These policies put minorities at an even greater risk by weaponizing the reality of their daily lives. As such, we, as a society, must be aware of this dynamic in order to reverse it, and create positive change.

Conclusion

Critical Race Theory plays an important role in our society. It allows us to understand how various structures and intuitions in the U.S. perpetuate racist dynamics. As such, it's crucial that the public is informed about these relationships and how CRT is misinterpreted in the media. Once people are aware about these systems, and the ways in which this theory is weaponized to censor education regarding racism and Black narratives in public schools, the proper steps can be taken to spread accurate information and create change. Hopefully then, we can strengthen the democratic foundations of this country, and create a more equitable society.

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